It would appear that the Hinckley human population has been in the grip of an outbreak of influenza B. The most susceptible group are young children and is the reason why many classrooms have been half empty in the run up to the half term break. Absence from work is also a significant problem with one of my own staff members affected for over a week.

These outbreaks occur nearly every winter and demonstrate the difficulties in trying to control this viral infection from making a regular impact on the health of the community.

As most people will be all too aware flu is also an exceedingly common problem in many other species. Avian flu is currently providing the biggest "headache" with its global impact being monitored by health experts across the world. Hopefully, this potentially devastating crisis will never actually be realised.

Whilst avian flu has currently not been identified in Hinckley we do still see feline flu fairly regularly. Fortunately, unlike our human counterparts the uptake in flu vaccination for our feline friends has been the main reason why we very rarely see many associated deaths. For just as in flu vaccination for humans whilst you may not be protected 100% you are much less likely to be severely affected with a much reduced incidence of secondary respiratory complications.

This underlines the importance of vaccination as a control strategy in both human and pet populations particularly those elderly pets and patients with underlying disease. This fact has not been overlooked by Jess's owners who are taking appropriate precautions to ensure he stays healthy.

If I have any more staff members off sick I may have to consider having them all vaccinated as well!

Terry Dunne BVMS, Cert SAO, MRCVS

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